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Otto’s long journey came to an end at the Brandenburg Gate

date of entry 07/10/2014

mileage 898,280

capital Berlin

area 357.167,94 km²

population 80,781 M.

GDP 3.636 Bill. US-Dollar

official language German

A long journey has come to an end. Gunther Holtorf and Otto are back in Germany. Their journey finished at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin after almost 900,000 kilometres. Then the two of them travelled to Stuttgart, which will be Otto’s future home. He will now be on show in the Mercedes-Benz museum and Gunther will visit him regularly.

Watched by curious onlookers, Gunther Holtorf stood on the roof of his loyal blue companion and cheered after reaching his destination. He admitted that a life without Otto would take some getting used to. That’s not surprising, given the amount of time he spent in the driver’s seat. He says that he sat behind the steering wheel for a total of around three years.

The cat Garfield, which was once bright orange, has now been bleached by the sun. He’s been there for the whole journey, always in his place on the grab handle over the glove compartment.

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Reporters and camera crews were awaiting Gunther Holtorf and Otto when they arrived at the Brandenburg Gate.

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After a few hours of interviews and discussions, things calmed down. The same evening the two globetrotters set off for the south of Germany.

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Arriving at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart. This will be Otto’s home from now on.

When Otto arrived in Stuttgart, the odometer read exactly 899,590 kilometres. "Thank goodness we didn’t reach 900,000," said Gunther Holtorf. "Otherwise I would have had to change the first eight." Otto’s odometer only has five digits.

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That evening the chairman of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, accepted the keys for Otto from Gunther Holtorf. At the start of his career, Dieter Zetsche managed the G-Class development team for a while.

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Gunther Holtorf climbed for the last time onto the bonnet which had been made specially for the Canadian army. Also in the picture are development director Thomas Weber, G-class manager Gunnar Güthenke and Dieter Zetsche.

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Gunther Holtorf would have liked to have taken Otto away with him again.

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But he remained true to his promise. On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the G-Class, Otto will stay in Stuttgart.

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Martin Holtorf, standing next to his father, also had to say goodbye to Otto. He had spent many months travelling with Otto.

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Only Koala, Monchichi and Garfield, the three mascots on the dashboard, will be staying with Otto.